The present invention relates to body armor for protecting wearers from bullets and other ballistic projectiles.
Conventional body armor typically includes ceramic or steel plates embedded in vests or other articles of clothing. Although effective in many applications, ceramic and steel body armor plates suffer from limitations that limit their utility. For example, ceramic body armor plates are relatively thick and therefore limit wearers' mobility and ability to quickly reach firearms, radios, and other equipment. Ceramic body armor plates are also expensive and cannot be easily sized and shaped to conform to a particular wearer's physique. Ceramic body armor plates are also brittle and often crack when struck by projectiles. Such cracking makes them less effective at protecting against subsequent projectile strikes in the same area.
Steel body armor plates are often thinner than ceramic plates and typically don't crack as easily. But steel plates are heavy and therefore limit their wearers' mobility. And, as with ceramic plates, steel body armor plates are not easily sized and shaped to conform to a particular wearer's physique. Steel body armor plates also sometimes cause secondary injuries when projectiles fragment and “splash” off them and strike their wearers or others nearby. Another problem with both ceramic and steel body armor plates is they are so negatively buoyant that they can't be safely used in body armor that may be worn in or near deep bodies of water.